Blicke in die Welt um 1900 – 3

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A Norwegian Highway

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Ice Pyramids and Treacherous Crevasses of Bosson Glacier, Mt. Blanc, from the Swiss side

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The ascent of Jungfrau – crossing the glacier, Switzerland

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»This is the sort of travelling we find on the Grindelwald-Fiescher Glacier. We are in the very midst of the Bernese Alps, with the Schreckhorn and the Lauteraarhorn behind us at the east, and the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau ahead of us at the west. The town of Interlaken is about 12 miles away over the ice fields at the northwest (ahead and off at our right).

”Now we begin to see what it means to traverse these Alpine heights and valleys. Seen at a distance, this chasm would be only a streak in the general whiteness, if it showed at all. The guides make little of crossing it as it is, but the undertaking seems to a novice exciting indeed.
The three men are tied together by a rope in the traditional Alpine fashion. Our guide – at the left side of the gulf – has already leaped over. Now he stands, with his feet in nail- studded shoe well braced, and the other guide at the other side stands likewise braced, while the third man makes ready for his own leap to the farther side. A clever mountain climber can do that easily; and, even if the leap should be short or the first foothold insufficient, letting him fall into the crevasse the rope around his waist is more than sufficient to hold his weight. The guides can pull him up, none the worse for a disagreeable experience. The ropes approved and used by members of the great Alpine Clubs have a distinguishing strand of red running through their whole length. There is a good deal in knowing how to use a rope – so the best guides say. It should be kept reasonably tight between the men all the time, else when a strain does come it is too much of a shock and a foothold cannot be well maintained. On the other hand, it must not be kept all the time at extreme tension.“

From Switzerland through the Stereoscope, by M. S. Emery, with special “keyed” maps locating every standpoint, and identifying the various peaks, passes and glaciers seen; published by Underwood & Underwood«

»About the time the Mariposa Big Trees were discovered and explored, regular tourist traffic to Yosemite began by the Mariposa or Wawona Trail. The first hotel was opened in 1857 and had 200 guests in that season. In 1864 Congress granted to the State of California the ”Cleft or Gorge in the Granite Peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.“ In 1905 California ceded back to the Government the 1600 square miles obtained by this act of Congress, which became a part of the Yosemite National Park. The white man has known of Yosemite for only about seventy-five years – the heights of Yosemite have stood here for uncounted thousands of years.

Half Dome was, until 1875, believed to be unscalable, but in that year George Anderson, a former sailor, succeeded in climbing it. He accomplished the feat in ten days by drilling holes and setting eyebolts in the rock. In recent years the Sierra Club of California has installed a cable stairway to the top, utilizing Anderson’s method. At the close of the summer season the steel posts are removed and stored; otherwise they would be swept away by the irresistible spring avalanches.

Every Yosemite visitor knows the Half Dome, but to see it clothed in the winter robes of winter presents a scene with few are familiar. Half Dome, as it turns from the east its riven, shadowed, and snow-covered plane is an incredible manifestation of one of God’s wonders. The winter aspect of Yosemite is most beautiful but visitors rarely come to the Park until after the time of snows has passed.«

In the Beautiful Papoose Chamber, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

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»Located in the rugged foothills of southeastern New Mexico is situated one of our most unique and most recently proclaimed national parks. The caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park are the largest that have ever been explored anywhere in the world.
How they were discovered is an interesting story. Jim White, a cowboy on a New Mexico ranch, saw one day a dark, moving column issuing from the ground. Investigation revealed the column was bats and the place they came from “the blackest hole I had ever seen.” This was in 1901. With a young Mexican boy, White made extensive explorations of this cavern after which he shared his discovery with many visitors. In October, 1923, the Federal Government, by proclamation of President Coolidge, established the site as a National Monument, and later, May 14, 1930, by an act of Congress, the area became the Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

A series of openings in a massive limestone deposit, the chambers and passageways are marvels of beauty, a dramatic lighting system augmenting the natural beauty to be found here. The galleries and passages have not all been explored but a present there are about seven miles of underground corridors and great chambers that are open to visitors.

The Papoose Chamber is a beautiful little room that was opened to the public in the summer of 1932. Though one of the smaller chambers, it presents a very dramatic appearance with its myriad sculptured effects hanging from the ceiling. The general term used to designate such iciclelike formations is “stalactite”. They are the work of surface water working drop by drop and have probably been building for millions of years.«